At the Huaneng Nuozhadu Hydropower Station in southwest China's Yunnan Province, a key project involves saving the local fish species in the Lancang River, one of China's major waterways. Our reporter Cen Ziyuan tells us about breakthroughs in protecting the river's ecological system.

The construction of hydropower stations on the Lancang River aims to solve the problem of drought in the Mekong River Basin.

But there are ecological costs to such infrastructure, which is why efforts to protect biodiversity are part of the station's projects.

CEN ZIYUAN Pu'er, Yunnan Province "Major breakthroughs at the fish hatchery include artificial propagation of Chinese Tor, one of the only native species in the Lancang River. Experts say infrastructure projects like the building of hydroelectric power stations do impact and compromise the living environments of fish and other animals in the area. Because of this, they say they hope we won't face the loss of local biodiversity to such projects."

CHEN JINSHENG Institute of Hydroecology Ministry of Water Resources & Chinese Academy of Sciences "In 2020, despite impact from the pandemic, Chinese Tor has been successfully bred for the first time. This development is the first of its kind for this fish hatchery in the past decade. It is very crucial in safeguarding biodiversity." 

The station has been up and running for about a decade, but the work is far from done. There are six native species living in the Lancang River. Of the six, four of the species have been successfully propagated. Two are still work in progress.

Of the remaining two species, cosmochilus cardinalis is already hard to find.

CHEN JINSHENG Institute of Hydroecology Ministry of Water Resources & Chinese Academy of Sciences "That means if the wild ones are hard to find, it is already a challenge for artificial breeding and release. It means we do not have the original sample. We can't do anything about it."

This is the challenge – experts have to collect original samples of the fish to breed. After successfully breeding the species, they need to raise them to certain sizes until they are ready to be released into the water.

PU ZHONGYONG Deputy Director, Reservoir Department Huaneng Nuozhadu Hydropower Station "We release them based on their reproduction season which starts in May. The amount of fish we release is based on the report on the environment of Nuozhadu Hydropower Station."

Breeding projects are not the hydropower plant's only concerns, they also have an animal rescue station, that's under supervision by the city's forest and grassland bureau. 

This macaque, a Chinese national first-class protected animal, is a new resident undergoing examination.

GONG BIN Deputy Director, Safety and Supervision Department Huaneng Nuozhadu Hydropower Station "We mainly help out the animals that are injured or trapped. We also search and rescue the young ones. Once their health condition has become stable, we release them back into the woods where food and water resources are abundant and with minor human activities."

In addition to the two stations, the overall set-up also includes a garden for unique plants in the area.

While building a hydropower station is crucial for generating clean energy and for sustaining livelihoods dependent on the Lancang-Mekong water system, experts hope in days to come the plant will be a significant contributor to maintaining biodiversity in the region. Cen Ziyuan, CGTN, Pu'er, Yunnan Province.